Experience proved to be the deciding factor in Tuesday night’s South Shore League match between Abington and East Bridgewater in girls basketball.

The Green Wave, who start five seniors, withstood a slow start in both halves to pull away from the Vikings, who only have two seniors, 55-33, on the road.

“We overcame some of their stuff and (EB) made some mistakes down the stretch and we capitalized on them,” said Abington coach Stephen Moore. “It wasn’t a 20-point game; they played us really tough.”

The win continues the Green Wave’s (13-1, 10-0 in SSL) recent dominance of the SSL, a circuit in which they haven’t lost a game the past two seasons.

“These kids have been playing varsity basketball for three, four years for me,” said Moore. “The system is in place.”

Despite going into halftime trailing 24-16, the Vikings (7-5, 5-5 in SSL) were able to claw back behind a strong defense to cut the score to 25-21.

“We came out in the second and started with defense,” said East Bridgewater coach Chris Connolly, whose team didn’t allow a second-half field goal until the 3:10 mark of the third quarter. “We thought we started to turn it around but they’re experience kind of pushed them.”

It took an unlikely hero on a team with eight seniors to spark Abington – sophomore Erin Foley.

With all momentum on EB’s side, Foley hit a free throw to make the score 26-21 and start a 7-0 run that lasted just over a minute. On the next Abington possession, junior Samantha Thompson found senior captain Amanda Hawkesworth for a layup, making the score 28-21.

Foley made it 30-21 when she scored off a turnover and finished the run by going coast-to-coast for a tough finish at the rim, giving the Green Wave a 32-21 lead.

“She’s given us some good minutes,” said Moore of Foley. “(Having an) offensive spark off the bench is always nice. She always does a nice job.”

Abington ended the third quarter with a 35-23 lead that would expand to 55-33 in the final frame behind Hawkesworth (17 points). The senior captain slammed the door shut on any ideas of a Vikings comeback by going 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

“She’s our go-to girl,” said Moore. “If we need a hoop or we need a stop, it goes through Amanda Hawkesworth, and she’s been doing that for the past four years here.”

The Vikings struggled at the free-throw line, going 14-for-32 while Abington went 16-for-23.

“We set a goal at the beginning of the year for 70 percent and we didn’t come up tonight,” said Connolly.

Although the Vikings lost, they showed a toughness that should pay off if they win three more games and make the Div. 3 South Sectionals.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think we’ve definitely showed we can play with some of the top teams in the state,” said Connolly. “I think the South Shore League will have us prepared for the tournament.”

Sam Cardinal (10 points) was the Vikings’ leading scorer.

“Sam was huge. She was taking the ball hard to the basket, she was looking for her shot,” said Connolly. “She was working on both ends.”

EB sophomore Olivia Signori finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to go with five blocks and six points. Right behind Signori on the boards was junior Cailey Purcell, who finished with 10 rebounds and six points.